Why the iPad Is Still Best-in-Class

Even though Wall Street is concerned with the iPad slowing down, Apple is still far and away best-in-class in the tablet market.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Even though Wall Street is concerned with the iPad slowing down, Apple (AAPL) is still far and away best-in-class in the tablet market.

Research firm IDCreleased its state of the tablet market in a new survey, noting the market contracted sharply in the first quarter from the fourth quarter of 2013, and rose just 3.9% from the year-ago quarter to 50.4 million units.

The tablet market is being impacted by the rise in larger-screen smartphones, most notably Samsung's Galaxy S4 and S5, which run on Google's (GOOG) Android operating system.

"The rise of large-screen phones and consumers who are holding on to their existing tablets for ever longer periods of time were both contributing factors to a weaker-than-anticipated quarter for tablets and 2-in-1s," said Tom Mainelli, IDC program vice president, devices and displays, in a press release. "In addition, commercial growth has not been robust enough to offset the slowing of consumer shipments."

Despite the sharply lower-than-expected growth in the tablet market, Apple still holds the lead, owning 32.5% of the market, down from 33.2% in the fourth quarter of 2013.

"First, in the March quarter last year, we significantly increased iPad channel inventory, while this year we significantly reduced it," Cook said on the earnings call. He also noted that last year, in the December quarter, there was a "substantial backlog with iPad mini that was subsequently shipped in the March quarter," whereas this year Apple had a supply and demand balance.